“What if all along ... kindness was the cure?”

Becky Haas, director of the Targeted Community Crime Reduction Project at the Johnson City Police Department, recalls asking Police Chief Mark Sirois that about solving homelessness.   

While the simple phrase came out a bit jocular during a seminar on Wednesday morning, sincerity lingered in Haas’ voice.  

Haas and Dr. Andi Clements, psychology professor and assistant chair at East Tennessee State University, tag-teamed a 4.5-hour long free seminar related to teaching a new “trauma-informed” approach to regional agencies who serve the homeless. 

About 50 people from Frontier Health, Family Promise of Greater Johnson City, The River Ministry for Women, the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness and the Knox Area Rescue Ministries met at the Johnson City Library to listen as Haas and Clement spoke about ways to recognize trauma and treat it in a way that doesn’t cause “re-traumatization.”

To continue reading this article by Zach Vance, please go to Local organizations learn different way to approach traumatization. [JohnsonCityPress.com - June 1, 2016]